CIDCO to lease nine plots for schools in city

Educational institutions will be allotted plots to set up composite schools
For those who think Navi Mumbai is only about state-of-the-art IT parks, malls, wide roads and flyovers, here is an eye-opener. City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), in its bid to turn Navi Mumbai in to an educational hub, will be leasing nine plots for schools in developing nodes of the satellite city.
The growing number of educational institutes offering a range of courses from engineering to pharmacy is indicative of the city's future. Of the nine plots reserved for composite schools, five plots will be leased in Kamothe.
"We are focusing on the upcoming nodes as a large number of people are moving to these areas. Nodes such as Kamothe and Airoli are witnessing widespread development and residents have expressed their need for good schools in the vicinity offering quality education for their children. This is the need of the hour and we are releasing land for schools as part of our social responsibility," a CIDCO official said on condition of anonymity.
The remaining four plots of land are situated in Airoli, CBD-Belapur, Kharghar and Nerul. Each plot has been allotted a Floor Space Index (FSI) of 1. The plot in Kharghar is reserved for a pre-primary, primary, secondary and higher secondary school in Urdu and English medium. The remaining eight plots are reserved for pre-primary, primary, secondary and higher secondary school in English and Marathi medium.
Navi Mumbai boasts of several educational institutes, which provide quality education, advanced infrastructure and a global environment conducive for study and overall development of students.
Apart from the regular courses in engineering, medicine, management, pharmacy and architecture, these institutes also offer newer subjects like fashion, bio-medical science, genetic engineering and social entrepreneurship. The growing number of students in the city is also contributing to the overall growth of the city.
Kharghar resident Mrinalini Sharma says, "Reputed institutes offering quality education has definitely added to the star quotient of the city. We chose to reside in Navi Mumbai keeping in mind the bright future of our children."

St Mary’s night school lights up minds of poor and underprivileged students

One could learn a lesson or two from St. Mary’s Multipurpose High School and Junior College at Vashi. The school for the last five years has made a social commitment of educating the underprivileged by running a night school in its school premises.

A building to match any corporate establishment with modern classrooms - this is an upscale city school which is giving its services to educate the underprivileged. St. Mary’s Multipurpose High School and Junior College at Vashi has been running a night school for the last five years for the underprivileged children of the city. Starting with just 60 students initially, the school now boasts of more than 200 enrolments. Not only are studies completely free, the students are also provided school uniforms, books and snacks.

St. Mary’s School work in association with an NGO called Aarambh headed by Shobha Murthy. The NGO identifies the students and sends the underprivileged children to the school. The school makes sure that the education provided to these night school students is at par with the day school classes. Running from first to 6th Std, the school is planning to increase its standards to Xth increasing the opportunities for the students.

10 year old Sampada Khandare and 15 year old Reena Yadhav both hailing from Turbhe love coming to school, to talk to their teachers and parents, to learn to love and care. The solution to the life that most under privileged children have is education in a loving environment that nurtures the growth of the children. These students are disciplined and hardworking, probably more than the regular students. One would agree to this once they meet 14-year-old Shekhar Manjulkar. Shekhar is visually impaired but this has not stopped him from finding his dream. Studying in sixth standard, Shekhar says that he never thought that he would ever go to a school but thanks to St. Mary’s, this dream had become a reality for him. Shekhar lives with his parents, a brother and sister at Turbhe. His favorite subject is social science, especially history as it tells him about the past. Shekhar wants to become a professor. Teachers at St. Mary’s say that it is a satisfaction to educate these students, as they are raw, waiting to be molded into good and responsible individuals of the society. Someone wise once said that “education is a producer of wealth, in a large sense, which leads to prosperity, which in turn leads to a high civilization.” At St. Mary’s Multipurpose School, this lesson is well learnt.